For once (sadly) the Met Office hit the nail on the head… because, as predicted, at 4pm the heavens began to open, and by the end of Suede’s headline set everyone at Beautiful Days 2023 was well and truly sodden…but still smiling like lunatics
But despite a damp July, the ground was still dry enough that by Saturday morning the majority of the grass was mud-free and able to be sat on without a soggy bottom in sight.
As it was, the rain proved a perfect crowd management tool, because it squeezed a capacity crowd into the Big Top for The Alarm, who definitely deserved that sized audience, but on a drier night may not have seen quite such a throng.
We loved Mike Peters’ mic technique though… because he’s clearly worked out that the drawback of being a guitarist/vocalist is that you get locked to the centre of the stage. His solution is a simple one… four identically balanced mics on stands across the front so that he can move around and always be in reach of microphone when he needs one.
Speaking of moving around – Brett Anderson on the main stage delivered up a masterclass in how a singer can own every inch of even the biggest space, as he prowled relentlessly across the full width of the available area and regularly made use of the steps into the pit to interact with the front rows of the crowd.
Speaking to Levellers’ frontman, Mark Chadwick and MC John Robb after the show the consensus was definitely that Suede stand out from man bands on the circuit simply because they throw all of their energy and passion at every show. And this Beautifual Days Festival appearance was definitely no exception.
Earlier in the day however, one of our personal highlights was the now obligatory one-upmanship show that is developing into a proper festival meme – and that’s the moment when Beans on Toast allows his daughter on stage…. you just know this is a star in the making when, after Jay asks her to say simply thanks to Beautiful Days for having her, this charming child carries on to explain how delighted she is that the crowd grew exponentially once her dad allowed her on stage…
